Word: nehemiah
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When the gun shot off, I was expecting a perfect race between Nehemiah, Kingdom and Gault. I was wrong...
After raising some $8 million and mapping out a detailed plan for low-cost construction, Nehemiah's sponsors went looking for additional help from city hall. When New York Mayor Ed Koch pleaded poverty, the group won the day by pointing to the support that the project had already garnered. Recalls Roman Catholic Bishop Francis Mugavero: "I said to the mayor, 'I would suggest that you steal the money, and I will absolve you.' " Laughing, Koch finally responded...
...York City gave Nehemiah 30 blocks of vacant land to build on. Equally % important, the city agreed to provide each home buyer with a $10,000 interest- free second mortgage, repayable only when the house is resold. A vital ingredient in many private housing initiatives, the second mortgage can bridge the gap between the price of a home and the amount of a first mortgage that a low-income family can afford. For the Joneses, this interest-free loan, coupled with a below-market- rate first mortgage from New York State, reduced the monthly cost of their house to just...
...Enterprise but also backed by federal funding. "The initiative would come from us, but the Government would make available the funds that are so desperately needed," says Rouse. Groups like Enterprise particularly want Congress to approve a $150 million second- mortgage fund similar to the one used in the Nehemiah program...
Certainly, some additional support for low-cost housing is necessary. In East Brooklyn a handwritten sign on the door of Nehemiah's offices sums up the dilemma faced by private housing groups across the country. PLEASE DO NOT KNOCK! reads the placard. WE ARE SOLD OUT. Those on the list for Nehemiah housing face a wait of more than two years...